It's reportedly for 5 years at $13M per season

Apr. 17, 2013

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After weeks of speculation, the Green Bay Packers have finally locked up outside linebacker Clay Matthews.

Two weeks after reports began circling the Packers were nearing an agreement with the four-time Pro Bowl player, Matthews tweeted a photo of himself signing his new five-year extension with the team on Wednesday afternoon.

Terms were not immediately available, but a report from ESPN's Darren Rovell and Adam Schefter indicated the new extension will fold into the remaining year of the rookie contract in a six-year, $69.73-million deal that runs through the 2018 season with $31 million in guaranteed money.

The contract makes Matthews the NFL's highest-paid linebacker with a five-year deal worth more than $13 million per season, eclipsing the six-year deal DeMarcus Ware signed with Dallas in 2009 that averages $13 million per year.

Matthews was scheduled to earn $3.73 million in base salary this year from a base salary of a $1.492 million that rose based on escalators in his contract.

The Packers have been working the past few weeks on extensions for both Matthews and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. There was some thought the two deals could get done at simultaneously given both players are represented by David Dunn.

However, a league source recently told Press-Gazette Media an agreement with Matthews appeared to be further along than Rodgers, whose camp continues to negotiate a deal that likely will make him the highest-paid player in NFL history.

The only player in team history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first four NFL seasons, Matthews was entering the final season of the five-year rookie contract he signed with the Packers when they selected him 26th overall in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

“Clay has been a productive member of our team and we are pleased to be able to come to an agreement that will extend his Packers career,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement.

Matthews ranks fifth in team history (since 1982) with the 42 1/2 career sacks and No. 2 in franchise postseason annals with 7 1/2 career sacks. He has registered three 10-sack seasons (No. 3 in team history) and two or more sacks in nine games (No. 5 in franchise history).

“Congratulations to Clay, who has quickly developed into a core member of our team,” said Packers coach Mike McCarthy in a statement. “His accomplishments and the example he sets on and off the field will be vital to our continued success. We look forward to the rest of his Packers career.”

Matthews has played in 58 games during his four seasons in the league with 55 starts and has recorded 270 tackles (191 solo), four interceptions (two TD returns), 23 passes defensed, seven forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries (one returned for a TD).